Blues 12-bar blues progression on guitar
What is the Blues 12-bar blues progression?
The Blues 12-bar blues progression is E, A, E, B, A and E (I–IV–I–V–IV–I), in the key of E major. Read as harmonic function it moves tonic → subdominant → tonic → dominant → subdominant → tonic, arriving home on a cadence. Play one chord per bar and let it loop.
Four chords, a whole story: E (I, home) → A (IV, the stroll) → E (I, home) → B (V, time to come back) → A (IV, the stroll) → E (I, home). Hit play. First pass, just listen. Second pass, follow with your finger on the names — and notice that by the second-to-last chord, your body already knows E — home — is coming.
Guitar
On the acoustic guitar you hold the whole song in your hands: the low sixth string lays down a bass note while the higher strings build the chord above it. From campfire pop to rock ballads and blues, the acoustic guitar is the default choice, whether you strum full chords or pick out a quiet verse. Its home chord E keeps its lowest note on E and rings 3 open strings.
Cadences: Harmony comes to rest here: hear cadences on the neck, 9 free and another one each week · try it in Chord and Fret
Save this progression in Chord and FretReharmonize: Want richer substitutions? Reharmonize's Subtle and Medium levels are free; Bold and Jazz are part of Pro · see it in Chord and Fret
Learn each chord of the trip
This is one shape of E. In the app, every chord in this progression comes with its other shapes and audio, free. Open in Chord and Fret →
Metronome: Drill this change in time, with tap tempo and subdivisions · open in Chord and Fret